Wordless Wednesday 2-20-13

Hanging on Mommy's Bed

The puppies like to jump on Lilah's downstairs dogbed and play on it or snuggle up on it.  The comforting smell of their mama is what they still like at 6 weeks old.  Here is Prince Eric (whose new name is Roczen), snuggling up with his blanket on Lilah's bed.

A Puppy Field Trip

Showing the puppies to the class.

A little hands-on time.

My girls.

My girls are loving the experience of having darling, little puppies around.  They, of course, know that we aren't keeping them, so they wanted to show them off to their friends before the puppies leave our house.  Living in a rural community is great!  The teachers in all the classrooms are open to animals coming in and welcome the opportunity.   The puppies were as good as gold and remained calm during their visits.  Amazingly, they didn't even have any potty accidents while in the classrooms.  All in all, it was quite a success and meaningful to my girls.  Here we are in Arianna's class, showing off the puppies.

Tired out, snoozing in their crate on the way home.

Darling Siblings

I caught Prince Eric and Ellie in a friendly sparring session with each other.  They are so cute playing with each other. 

Playtime Please

The puppies turned 6 weeks old today.  They are, of course, getting bigger and eating a lot more.  They are more playful as the days go by and want to explore their surroundings.  It is pretty funny hearing them become more vocal and ask to be let out of their whelping box to play.  Here are a few pictures of them this morning hollering for their play time. 

Wordless Wednesday 2-13-13

No-sew fleece blankets

I really like this project because it so fun and easy and the results are quite nice.  I made a blanket like this for my daughter this Christmas from a No-Sew Fleece Blanket kit which really just includes the 2 pieces of coordinating fleece that you need.  More recently, I decided to make some mini fleece blankets for the puppies.  They will sleep with them for the next few weeks and then they will go with them to their new homes.  The familiar smell on the blanket will, hopefully, help comfort the puppies when they go with their new families.  I went to Jo-Ann fabrics where I knew the blizzard fleece was on sale and found some cute pet prints for the puppies blankets. 

Making the blankets is easy and can be done with any two pieces of fleece that are the same size.  The bolder, "right" side goes on the outside, so that the "wrong sides are facing in to each other and all the sides are matching up.  First, you need to cut a small square out of each corner.  Then, starting 1 side at a time (with both pieces of fleece still together), you cut strips about an inch or 1 1/2 inches wide and about 2 to 3 inches deep, depending on how big you want the ties to be.  Then, you tie a square knot in each matching set of ties all the way around the blanket until you are finished.  Then, the blanket can be washed, dried, and used.  There are so many different patterns of fleece available that you can really have fun with this project and make it special all sorts of people or occasions. 

Buddy snoozing.

Jake with the new blankies.

So Sweet!

Four of my five daughters, giving the pups some love!  This is the highlight of their winter. 

The puppies are five weeks old now, they are getting so playful and playing with toys, their appetites are increasing and they are eating so well, and the girls are giving them a little practice on the leash. 

Catching Some Rays

Here are a few pics of the puppies on their first day outside in the grass.  They weren't sure what to make of it, but they went outside again today and were having fun toddling around after each other and us. 

Buddy.

The four siblings.

Ellie, creeping along, getting a feel for the grass.

Prince Eric and Buddy.

Jake, sniffing the air.

Prince Eric.

A Day at the Safari Park

The Safari Park was always called the San Diego Wild Animal for the longest time and recently changed its name.  Of course, we all still just call it the Wild Animal Park because we have been going there for so long while it has had that name.  We have made many visits to the Wild Animal Park (WAP) and the Zoo even before the kids were born, but many, many trips since having the girls.  Lately, the hubby and I haven't renewed our passes every year, but only do so periodically.  The girls have passes, though, that the grandparents keep up with, so they have been going continuously with our without us all this time.  Recently, the three older girls went to the Safari Park (WAP) with my hubby's parents for the day.  They took our old point-and-shoot digital camera with them to document their trip.  Here are the pictures from their marvelous day out with Bama and Abuelo.

A beautiful, talking macaw.

#2

#1

A crazy-looking bird.

#3, with her exuberant expression, as usual!

The 3 sisters together.

Must have been an interesting-looking plant if they took a picture of it.

A warthog.

A water play station.

#3, soaked after standing under the water - in January, that is.

The cheetahs, just chillin'.

The girls love to visit the lions.

Hard to see, but I think a lion is sleeping over by the gutted Range Rover.

A lion's tooth - the girls were very impressed by this.